Buy hundreds of cheap ethernet cables (like.. 10p each) off ebay and flog them to freshers for a fiver. Pay other students a commission to do the same. Target the international halls.. Saturate moving-in day across campus.

If there's a nearby shop that also sells them then buy-out their entire stock on several separate receipts. If it's cheap and you run out of your cheap cables then resell them. If not, return the cables to multiple different branches over the 30 days left on the receipts so they don't get suspicious.

I always wondered what happened to rich people whose parents refused to pay for their uni.

Student finance won't give you the loans unless you completely estranged yourself from your parents + gave proof for it. If your parents are millionaires but they refuse to pay for your uni then you're ****ed, that's not fair.

(Original post by Dragonfly07)
I always wondered what happened to rich people whose parents refused to pay for their uni.

Student finance won't give you the loans unless you completely estranged yourself from your parents + gave proof for it. If your parents are millionaires but they refuse to pay for your uni then you're ****ed, that's not fair.

SRS POST (serious)

Even if your parents are multi-billionaires, and you're not classed as an independent student, second-degree 5 year medics are still entitled to at least 65% of the Student Loan for Maintenance, which is a nice chunk of money.

The rest of it you'll just have to work hard for. You've got 2 years of your Biomed degree left to work part-time and hols. Try to underspend your current maintenance loan and bank it. Erm. Yeah. Hard work one way or another, that's about it.

Even if your parents are multi-billionaires, and you're not classed as an independent student, second-degree 5 year medics are still entitled to at least 65% of the Student Loan for Maintenance, which is a nice chunk of money.

The rest of it you'll just have to work hard for. You've got 2 years of your Biomed degree left to work part-time and hols. Try to underspend your current maintenance loan and bank it. Erm. Yeah. Hard work one way or another, that's about it.

Because I'm estranged from my own parents and I had difficulty trying to prove it, I know that the maximum that you'll get is about £3,000 per year without any income assessment. That's not a lot and you'll have to work harder than others to make up for the amount that you do need for basic survival, which may impact your studies.

(Original post by Dragonfly07)
Because I'm estranged from my own parents and I had difficulty trying to prove it, I know that the maximum that you'll get is about £3,000 per year without any income assessment. That's not a lot and you'll have to work harder than others to make up for the amount that you do need for basic survival, which may impact your studies.

(Original post by machines)
Get used to working harder than others, you're going to be a doc!

No I'm not. But if I was, I'd still be at a disadvantage to my peers. I think the student finance policies should recognise that having wealthy parents doesn't make you wealthy. When you're studying at uni, especially if it's at a good university and doing a hard course, you have to dedicate as much of your time as possible to studying. Having to throw away your weekends for working means you have less time for work not to mention your social life, which would completely be thrown out of the window. All of those factors will increase your chances of failing by a ridiculously large amounts.

P.S that's not saying that people shouldn't work hard. But forcing them to work harder than their peers because they're disadvantaged is wrong. That "hard work" would be much better spent on some more studying.

(Original post by Dragonfly07)
No I'm not. But if I was, I'd still be at a disadvantage to my peers. I think the student finance policies should recognise that having wealthy parents doesn't make you wealthy. When you're studying at uni, especially if it's at a good university and doing a hard course, you have to dedicate as much of your time as possible to studying. Having to throw away your weekends for working means you have less time for work not to mention your social life, which would completely be thrown out of the window. All of those factors will increase your chances of failing by a ridiculously large amounts.

P.S that's not saying that people shouldn't work hard. But forcing them to work harder than their peers because they're disadvantaged is wrong. That "hard work" would be much better spent on some more studying.

Wait, are you currently studying for medicine? As your first degree? Or are you in the middle of your first degree and considering studying for medicine as your second degree? I'm confused.

Even if your parents are multi-billionaires, and you're not classed as an independent student, second-degree 5 year medics are still entitled to at least 65% of the Student Loan for Maintenance, which is a nice chunk of money.

The rest of it you'll just have to work hard for. You've got 2 years of your Biomed degree left to work part-time and hols. Try to underspend your current maintenance loan and bank it. Erm. Yeah. Hard work one way or another, that's about it.

I will get just under £5000 per year maintenance loan. I will have to put tuition fees upfront at the beginning of each year. Plus I still have to pay for accommodation and living. Seeing at the £5000 doesn't get given in one bunch but over 3 semesters, not really feasible.

(Original post by machines)
Wait, are you currently studying for medicine? As your first degree? Or are you in the middle of your first degree and considering studying for medicine as your second degree? I'm confused.

I don't understand. When did I ever say anything about medicine?

I'm not studying for a career, I'm studying for research to help other people and myself, and I'm not doing medicine.

(Original post by Dragonfly07)
I don't understand. When did I ever say anything about medicine?

I'm not studying for a career, I'm studying for research to help other people and myself, and I'm not doing medicine.

You're on the Medicine forum.. I just assumed, as you've got nothing written on your profile either, that you're doing Medicine.

It does say Age: 21 on your profile, so I think it would be fair to at least assume that you're on your first degree, or considering studying a first degree. Which means that, as a student on the legacy (pre-2012) loan, you're entitled to 72% of the maximum maint loan, i.e. £3564 (72% of the £4950 main loan for students away from home living outside of London).

So your 'disadvantage' is what.. 28% of £4950, or £1386? Big deal.

(Original post by Dragonfly07)
... I'd still be at a disadvantage to my peers. I think the student finance policies should recognise that having wealthy parents doesn't make you wealthy. When you're studying at uni, especially if it's at a good university and doing a hard course, you have to dedicate as much of your time as possible to studying. Having to throw away your weekends for working means you have less time for work not to mention your social life, which would completely be thrown out of the window. All of those factors will increase your chances of failing by a ridiculously large amounts.

P.S that's not saying that people shouldn't work hard. But forcing them to work harder than their peers because they're disadvantaged is wrong. That "hard work" would be much better spent on some more studying.

First things first, £1386 is 231 hours work at £6ph, or 4.4 hours a week. So, the disadvantage you rail against is next to nothing! In fact, if you worked 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (like millions of people do for the rest of their lives) you'd earn this amount in.. 1 month. So, you need to work full time for 1 month in your summer holidays and then it wouldn't impinge on your studies at all!

The reason maint loans aren't a free-for-all is that there's a limited pot of money to go around. The governments we (maybe not you, but 'we' as in this country) elected chose the size of this limited pot of money on the basis that, if this pot of money were larger, we'd have to take funds from other parts of government or take it as eventual tax rises.

Anyway, I digress. Taking the size of the pot as given, its only fair that people who are less likely to have cash showered on them receive a greater proportion of the pot. Not a massively greater proportion - to reiterate, even if you've got billionaire parents you're still £1386 down.

The middle way would be, of course to do what you suggest - have less money available to kids with rich parents unless they can prove that their parents aren't supporting them. But this would be ridiculous. Anyone could just claim that they're 'estranged' from their parents to get the extra cash - and people would do!

So you're just going to have to swallow the fact that you've got to work 4.4 hours a week for the greater good. And I haven't even got into the fact that a large proportion of kids with richer parents will be enjoying the fruits of undue advantage regardless of who pays their tuition fees.

N.B. I'd like to make it clear that I recognise the fact that I've assumed that your only beef with the funding arrangements is that you're not entitled to the income-assessed portion of the loan. I've assumed a lot, in fact, so don't take it too personally.

Last edited by machines; 08-03-2012 at 20:24.
Reason: One word changed.

(Original post by machines)
You're on the Medicine forum.. I just assumed, as you've got nothing written on your profile either, that you're doing Medicine.

It does say Age: 21 on your profile, so I think it would be fair to at least assume that you're on your first degree, or considering studying a first degree. Which means that, as a student on the legacy (pre-2012) loan, you're entitled to 72% of the maximum maint loan, i.e. £3564 (72% of the £4950 main loan for students away from home living outside of London).

So your 'disadvantage' is what.. 28% of £4950, or £1386? Big deal.

First things first, £1386 is 231 hours work at £6ph, or 4.4 hours a week. So, the disadvantage you rail against is next to nothing! In fact, if you worked 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (like millions of people do for the rest of their lives) you'd earn this amount in.. 1 month. So, you need to work full time for 1 month in your summer holidays and then it wouldn't impinge on your studies at all!

The reason maint loans aren't a free-for-all is that there's a limited pot of money to go around. The governments we (maybe not you, but 'we' as in this country) elected chose the size of this limited pot of money on the basis that, if this pot of money were larger, we'd have to take funds from other parts of government or take it as eventual tax rises.

Anyway, I digress. Taking the size of the pot as given, its only fair that people who are less likely to have cash showered on them receive a greater proportion of the pot. Not a massively greater proportion - to reiterate, even if you've got billionaire parents you're still £1386 down.

The middle way would be, of course to do what you suggest - have less money available to kids with rich parents unless they can prove that their parents aren't supporting them. But this would be ridiculous. Anyone could just claim that they're 'estranged' from their parents to get the extra cash - and people would do!

So you're just going to have to swallow the fact that you've got to work 4.4 hours a week for the greater good. And I haven't even got into the fact that a large proportion of kids with richer parents will be enjoying the fruits of undue advantage regardless of who pays their tuition fees.

N.B. I'd like to make it clear that I recognise the fact that I've assumed that your only beef with the funding arrangements is that you're not entitled to the income-assessed portion of the loan. I've assumed a lot, in fact, so don't take it too personally.

No, you misunderstood. I come from a poor family, who I'm estranged from, and I can prove my estrangement via a letter from a social worker who knows my circumstances. I just sympathise with those people who've been through a similar situation to mine, whether they come from rich or poor families, who CAN'T prove estrangement because social workers/police aren't involved.

You don't necessarily need to pay for these fees. Take out a student loan, then once you graduate and you are earning £21,000 a year, then you pay it back over a number of years. If it is not paid back after 30 years, then the government will write it off.

(Original post by Dragonfly07)
No, you misunderstood. I come from a poor family, who I'm estranged from, and I can prove my estrangement via a letter from a social worker who knows my circumstances. I just sympathise with those people who've been through a similar situation to mine, whether they come from rich or poor families, who CAN'T prove estrangement because social workers/police aren't involved.

I suspect there are so few people in such a situation, and the costs to those individuals is so relatively small, as to not outweigh the positives of having a system that awards more money to people who can prove they come from low income families.

And to show we haven't strayed off topic... be a contestant on loads of game shows?

(Original post by Dee Leigh)
You don't necessarily need to pay for these fees. Take out a student loan, then once you graduate and you are earning £21,000 a year, then you pay it back over a number of years. If it is not paid back after 30 years, then the government will write it off.

But here's an idea for you: start a business.

This is OP's 2nd UG degree, so he can't get a tuition fee loan from the SLC, so has to cough up the cash upfront (1 year's worth per year)

I assume you are going to do post-graduate medicine? NHS funding hasn't yet been finalised for the 2013/14 intake, but if it's anything like it is now then I guess: you will have to pay your first year tuition fees yourself, but get a maintenance loan from the Student Loans Company. For subsequent years, the NHS will pay some of your tuition fees and the Student Loans Company will pay the rest. You'll also get a bursary off the NHS for maintenance.

No offence, but if you really want to be a doctor this badly, shouldn't you have put a bit more effort into this? I knew all this information when I was in Year 12...